Kanpur: Getting to play the red-ball cricket for one’s country is a dream for any cricketer. Shreyas Iyer lived his dream but the cherry on the cake was to get his Test cap from none other than the legend of the game Sunil Gavaskar.
The 26-year-old Iyer termed the moment as a “fairytale” before explaining that he thought he would be getting his Test cap from head coach Rahul Dravid. Iyer, who has now earned the bragging rights of representing India in all three formats, however, admitted that he was not satisfied the way he got out soon after achieving the three-digit number in his maiden Test against New Zealand here at Green Park on Friday.
“It (getting the Test cap) was like a fairytale to be honest. I never thought I would be getting the cap from Sunil (Gavaskar) Sir. I thought Rahul (Dravid) Sir would give me but both are legends of the game. So either of them would have given me the cap I would have been happy,” Iyer said after the stumps on Day 2 in a virtual press conference.
The middle-order batter Iyer (105) played a poor shot off Tim Southee and gave a straight catch to Will Young at cover area. “It’s (playing the Test) a great feeling and the way everything panned out I was really happy but I’m not satisfied the way I got out,” Iyer said as he had no qualms in accepting his mistake.
The Indian line-up is jam-packed with regular Test captain Virat Kohli returning to the squad in the second game in Mumbai. Despite being aware of the upcoming shuffle in the line-up, Iyer, who played at number 5 in the first game, said that whatever happens he will take it on his stride and move forward. The right-hander went onto share the advice he got from Gavaskar that he should only stay in present and focus on the next ball.
Iyer also said that when he came to Kanpur ahead of the first Test match against New Zealand, he didn’t know whether he was going to play or not. It was India head coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Ajinkya Rahane who informed him that he will be playing. Iyer then immediately shifted his focus from white-ball to red-ball cricket as the latter needs a different mindset.
